All he needed
by AriaGS
Summary: Ever wondered how did Tony and Pepper met? This is the story of one of the most eccentric avengers. How did he become from a non-stop party guy to a sort of "responsible citizen" and how he started to fell in love with his assistant.
1. Chapter 1

Virginia Pepper Potts sat on a bench, she couldn't stop looking at the clock on the wall; next to her two other women sat they were all there for the same reason, although they were a bit different. The two girls next to her were dressed like they were about to go into the runway while she was wearing clothes that actually fitted the occasion. A job interview, not just any job interview, the genius famous billionaire Anthony Stark was offering an assistant position. It's not that she wasn't ready for this but she hadn't expected that the other women would expect to be hired just for being physically attractive.

"Ms Potts?" a tall man called her name.

She stood up and smiled to him, he nodded and pointed to the room in which Anthony Stark was interviewing the possible new assistant.

When she opened the door Mr. Stark was playing with his phone

Pepper cleared her throat

"Please take a seat" he said without taking his eyes off the phone

She did as was told and waited him to ask the usual questions but he remained silent and ignored her. Five minutes later he finally asked "So, tell me your name and why would you want to work for me"

"Well first of all it's an honor Sir to finally meet you. My name is Virginia Pepper Potts" she stopped to take a breath and noticed he smirked at the name "I have experience from old jobs at being able to deal with all sort of complications and challenges any company could get. I understand the importance of your company and would like to assist you in whatever is possible to see it thrive"

Stark nodded "Okay" suddenly he put his phone down and looked at her, he was only going to take a peak expecting to find either a super model or an old grumpy lady but at the sight of a professional yet beautiful woman he lingered. "Anyways tell me… ehm Pepper, right?"

"Virginia Pepper" she corrected

He nodded "Pepper, tell me why would I hire you instead of all the ladies outside?"

She cleared her throat "Well I am an efficient worker and I promise I will always give my best effort" The answer was a bit rusty but she had meant it

The billionaire nodded and the man that had showed her the way to the office entered "Sir, Monica is here for the interview"

His eyes sparkled "You mean _the_ Monica, Miss Ohio?"

The man smiled and nodded

Stark looked at Pepper "So, thanks you for coming Pepper, I'll give you a call after I take my decision"

Pepper wanted to murder him; she had missed her father's birthday so she could come to the interview, and now Miss Ohio would get the job no matter her lack of experience. "Really?" she let out

Anthony Stark rose his eyebrows at her "Excuse me?"

"I was told you were searching for an efficient assistant not someone who can-"she stopped realizing her tremendous mistake

The man in the door stepped in "Would you like me to escort her out Mr. Stark?"

Pepper closed her eyes regretting what she had let out and hoping to feel the man's hands dragging her out of the place but instead he heard the billionaire "No thanks, I'll deal with it, you are dismissed"

She opened her eyes and the man went out, while Stark was staring at her "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Her heart almost stopped "I am terribly sorry I did not mean to say it in those words but I had expected the interview would be more professional"

"You mean I don't take this seriously?" he asked

"Exactly" Crap, she thought, she had done it again.

The man frowned "Are you arguing with me?"

"Yes?" she answered with a doubting tone. _Great Pepper_ she said to herself _you just ruined the most important job interview of your life, bravo!_

Anthony Stark stood up "Well, you are hired"

She had to blink twice "Really?"

He laughed "Yeah now let me show you around the place, you can start now, right?"

Pepper stood up "Of course"

"Well, basic stuff, I don't like being handed thing, call me Tony, I do a lot of parties and I need you 24/7"

She smiled "You won't be disappointed"

Tony smiled one last time and walked her outside, he was a bit sad Monica wouldn't be there for him 24/7 but he had a good feeling about this girl, she was the only one with actual experience, she had a good education, she dared to argue with him and she was attractive. He couldn't have asked for more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, I hope you all like this :D the story will be before Iron Man so no suit :( ...leave suggestions of what you want to see and please review, it would really help! Also sometimes I get a lot of homework so I won't be able to post every day but it won't be more than a week when you don't hear from me :D unless I tell you that I won't update for a while (but that's just in case something important keeps me from doing it) :P Anyways please read and give it a shot!**

"So, your name is Pepper Potts?" he asked her

She nodded "Yes"

He chuckled "That's a first"

They had just finished the tour and entered his laboratory when a voice said "Welcome Sir"

"JARVIS" he called "meet my new assistant: Pepper Potts"

She expected a man to come in but the voice remained in the air "Nice to meet you Ms Potts. My name is JARVIS, I am an artificial intelligent program that Mr. Stark created to help him"

"Hello" she answered a bit surprised and looking at her boss she added "impressive"

Tony shrugged "He's in development. JARVIS is in the entire house so when you need help or have a doubt just call him, and he'll be there"

"Thank you" she answered

"Anyways, this is my lab and practically my bedroom, do not disturb me unless it's urgent or really important, also make sure I don't starve. I'm kind of busy, here's a phone" he handed her his "JARVIS will send you the instructions to your office and until you feel comfortable with the working hours you can stay here. I'm supposed to eat three times a day or something and coffee I need a lot of coffee"

"Of course and thank you gain for this opportunity Mr. …. Tony"

He smiled and she walked towards the exit. When he was left alone he remembered that no one had been able to put up with him, so he hoped this would work.

Apparently being a genius billionaire implies giving a crap about paperwork or at least for Tony Stark.

As soon as Pepper arrived to her small yet luxurious office, JARVIS sent her a bunch of files to her new phone and computer. She was so concentrated in her work that when JARVIS spoke she almost screamed.

"Ms Potts, Mr. Stark wishes to see you in his laboratory"

"Okay" she answered and fixed her skirt before going out, it was about ten pm and she had gotten there around 7.

The door was open so she entered "You wanted to see me?" she asked

Tony looked at her "Yes, I wanted to introduce you to my friend Rhodey, you will be working with him"

A tall man stepped in and shook her hand with a warm smile "Nice to meet you, I am Colonel James Rhodes"

"Pepper Potts" she introduced herself

"I am in charge he doesn't get in trouble with the military force" Rhodey joked

"And also that I don't do anything stupid" Stark added

Rhodey laughed and Pepper smiled

"Anyways, I called you to let you know I have business to do in New York tomorrow so you can prepare yourself. We leave at 6 am so I'll see you here at 5 am" Tony told her

Pepper knew that in time she would have to go with him to all of his business operations but it was really soon, he had just met her and now he was willing to let her deal with important matters of the business. She even saw Colonel Rhodes reaction; he was frowning at his friend.

"Of course Sir" she answered a few seconds later

Tony smiled "That's all"

Pepper nodded and walked back to her bedroom.

Rhodey snorted "You are honestly going to take her there when you only have met her?"

The billionaire grinned and sat on a couch "Exactly, look, I really need an assistant to deal with all the files and that crap. I even chose her before Monica! This will be her first and yet the most important test, I'll see what she can do and from that I'll know if she's worthy of my trust"

James Rhodes sat beside him and nodded, he took a deep breath and processed the idea, after a few minutes he spoke "You preferred her before Miss Ohio?"

Tony sighed and nodded "Yep"

Rhodey smiled "I'm proud of you" and making a serious face he added "I hope you don't break her"

Stark laughed, but deep down he feared the same.

Once Pepper arrived to her temporary room JARVIS told her to go inside the closet and pick any outfit she'd like and if she wanted something else she could buy it online and it would arrive within two hours.

She went inside the huge closet and her jaw dropped "That's a lot of women's clothes" she muttered

"Mr. Stark gets presents like this for sponsors" the AI told her

She nodded and took a look of the clothes, most of them were expensive as hell dresses and at the end of the hall she found a small yet elegant area of working clothes.

"JARVIS?" she called

"Yes Ms?"

"So, can I take anything from here?"

"Yes Ms Potts, anything you like, actually Mr. Stark told me that everything is yours" he answered

"But-"she tried to cut him off

"He said that you could take it as a payment" JARVIS added

Pepper sighed, she didn't like the idea but to be honest she wasn't going to argue or ask twice. She continued to look around and found a suitcase so she started to pack and asked JARVIS for the details of the trip. She knew this would be her test and she wasn't going to fail, she had never failed and she would never do.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! New chapter, sorry for my delay, I also want to add that I have exams this week so I will probably update till next week, anyways please Review and leave suggestions!**

At 5' o clock am Pepper was ready to go, Tony arrived 15 minutes later and was rather impressed that she had remembered the hour he had told her, because he didn't.

"I forgot to tell you about the clothes, did JARVIS tell you?" he asked

She nodded "He did and thank you so much, I am sure there is no way I can pay you back-"

He cut her off "Don't mention it Pepper, take it as a welcome present, shall we go now?"

She smiled and nodded, deciding to leave the topic at rest but promising herself that she'd pay him in some way.

They took a car to the airport and once they were there Rhodey caught up with them and they boarded the private plane.

"What happens to the plane when you don't use it?" Rhodey asked once the vehicle was on the air

The billionaire shrugged "No idea"

Rhodey rolled his eyes and looked at Pepper "So, where are you from?" he began to ask

"I'm from New York City and my parents are from North Carolina" she answered

"Do you have siblings?"

"No but I used to babysit my cousins so I get the idea"

Stark remained silent the rest of the flight, he only put sunglasses on and pretended to fall asleep, it was his intention at first but he found it hard to ignore his new assistant and they way she addressed to others, specially Rhodey, she was being so sweet, not in a romantic way but it still puzzled Tony how could she be so….nice. He could also sense her strong temper and a hint of perfectionism and he needed that for his company, for his life. Since he had inherited the company he had the double of responsibility and stress and that usually ended up with him waking up next to two bottles of alcohol and a woman he had never met before.

As they landed Tony pretended to wake up and stood up "We are going to the hotel to refresh and from there I need you to spend every single hour of the day in the conference"

His friend checked hi swatch, "Actually I'll meet you at dinner. I have some things I need to do first"

"Well then" he looked at Pepper "I guess we'll have to be together now"

"It's an honor Sir" she told him

"You'll regret it" Rhodey joked

Once they were out of the plane Colonel Rhodes said good bye to them not before whispering in her ear "Make sure no one hands him anything"

It took her by surprise but she remembered that it had been the first rule Stark had made. So every time someone threatened to go near Tony to hand him something she stepped in as discrete as she could be and took it for him so she could place it somewhere he could take it personally.

He only really noticed once they were in the lobby of the hotel and the receptionist tried to hand him the card, he automatically shook his head and Pepper stepped in and took it for him and placed it on a table while the lady that had helped them stared confused at both.

"Thank you" he told her once they were inside the elevator

She had been distracted and hadn't paid much attention so it took her by surprise, what had she done now?

He chuckled "I'll explain everything at its time"

Pepper nodded and frowned a bit.

The bell rang letting them now that they had arrived to their floor

"Would you like me to let you know when the conference starts?" she asked him

"Ehm… sure" he answered, someone had caught his sight, he had to shut his eyes to focus again "Actually I need your help with something, would you mind coming to my room once you get settled in yours?"

She nodded and walked to the room, it was in front of his. As soon as she stepped in she cursed herself quietly, the room was for impressive and once again she felt a bit bad for not being able to pay…again.

Pepper quickly put her suitcase in the closet; made sure her hair wasn't a mess and walked to her new boss's bedroom.

Right before she knocked he opened the door and pulled her in.

"Sorry for that" he said as he closed the door behind her "I found a person I didn't want to see, anyways new plans we will leave just as she enters her bedroom"

She frowned at him "Who is she?"

"Someone I shouldn't have slept with" he answered

She knew that he was a playboy but hearing that from him made her a bit uncomfortable, he didn't look like a person who would play with someone's feelings, but who was she kidding? Everyone hates Anthony Stark.

Tony threw himself at the bed and she stood there awkwardly, she was going to have to get used to this. "What is the conference about?" she changed the subject

He looked up "Arms and how important it is to give them a good use"

"Will you participate?" she asked again

He shook his head "Not today, I'll give a speech tomorrow but I must hear all the other conferences of the day, I believe we still have an hour or something"

"Do people buy tickets to hear it?"

He nodded "Mine got sold out"

She smiled "That must feel amazing"

"What must feel amazing?"

"To have a lot of people being interested in what you think and how you work, that is what makes us feel motivated, to know someone that can work with excellence, to know someone so human yet so… so perfect" Pepper answered

He stared at her, and at how her eyes sparkled as she spoke with passion about him… it was about him right? He had never felt perfect but the way she said it made him think about the way he ran his company and that maybe he was taking it lightly.

Since she got no response from him she blushed "I am sorry, I must have sounded like lunatic"

Her boss stood up "On the contrary, you made my work sound as if it was worthy"

She chuckled "Can I take a look at your speech?"

He blinked "About that… I haven't written it yet and since you have shown your gift of words, would you mind giving me a hand?"

And that is, she told herself, how you will pay him for everything, with hard work.


End file.
